Plasma vs. LCD: Six things you need to know

By David Carnoy on 08 April 2008
updated A while ago, a friend sent me the following email:

Random question, oh tech guru: I'm looking for a new TV, what are your thoughts on plasma vs. LCD? Moved to a bigger place, so I can get a decent-size screen, but I don't want to go broke. Also, looking at a 20-inch LCD for the bedroom. Right way to go? Again, your thoughts.

The question wasn't as random as he supposed; I've been receiving similar queries from other friends and readers regularly. The great marketing machines of Philips, Sony, and Samsung have combined with major electronics retailers to work everybody into a flat-panel frenzy -- even people who say they don't watch TV. The only problem, of course, is that there happen to be two kinds of flat panels, and both have their pluses and minuses. With that in mind, I've put together a quick rundown of what you should know before going the plasma or LCD route, along with a few pointers.

1. Price-to-size ratio
Samsung LA40R81BD

40- and 42-inch flat-panel TVs such as the Samsung LA40R71B became mainstream in 2007.

While neither LCD nor plasma TVs are a budget bargain, on a price-per-square-inch basis, plasmas currently have a slight edge. Look at it this way: Technically, a 42-inch plasma gives you approximately 30 percent extra screen real estate as a 37-inch LCD panel, but they both go for about AU$2000. Prices have almost halved in the last twelve months, but larger versions (50 inches or more) won't cost the same as their plasma equivalents for quite a while.

The reason my friend was looking at a 20-inch TV for his bedroom is that prices for smaller LCD panels at the time were dropping the fastest, with a 20-incher coming in at a little more than AU$1,200. Today, 26 inches are about the smallest the mainstream manufacturers sell and they are available for about the same price. Plasmas aren't available in that size; 32 inches is their lower limit. Just remember that a 20-inch screen is pretty small, and you'll have to sit rather close to it. It may be fine for viewing the news and sitcoms in bed, but it's obviously less than ideal for enjoying movies. And a 17-inch model should be reserved for use as a kitchen television or a computer monitor in a home office; while you work, you can watch TV in a little picture-in-picture box in a corner of the display.

Bottom line: 32-inch LCDs offer the greatest value among bedroom sets, and your best bet for the living room is a 40-inch or larger LCD or plasma.

Sony Bravia X-series

Sony's 70-inch Bravia X-series LCD TV is going for a whopping AU$69,999.

2. Performance
A general rule of thumb is that plasmas deliver better home theatre performance than LCDs. Our video guru, David Katzmaier, says the difference is due mostly to the fact that backlighting-based LCD TVs typically can't display black as well as plasmas; it ends up closer to dark grey. That shortcoming decreases the amount of detail you can see in the shadows and ultimately leaves the picture looking -- as videophiles would say -- less three-dimensional.

The picture quality of both LCD and plasma panels is improving each year, but it can vary significantly from manufacturer to manufacturer, so check our lists of top products. We're nitpicky about performance in our reviews -- it's our job -- and you should seriously consider our evaluations if you plan on using your set for home theatre viewing. But if you're buying a smaller LCD (26 inches or less) for the kitchen or the bedroom, don't agonise too much over performance.

3. Lifespan
Lifespan, the number of viewing hours a television provides before dimming to half brightness, used to be one of the biggest advantages LCD has over plasma. Though the numbers vary among the different brands, they now generally last up to around 60,000 hours regardless of the technology.

Panasonic TH-50PZ700A

Most modern plasma TVs, such as this Panasonic VIERA come with an anti-burn-in function.

4. Burning issues
One of plasma technology's known issues is something called burn-in. It happens when your television shows a still image or an icon for so long that its "ghost" remains on the screen. For example, if a stock ticker or a news crawl continuously runs along the bottom of your display, that strip may be burned into your set. The same applies to watching an excessive amount of standard TV (4:3) on a widescreen (16:9) model; the vertical bars to either side of the picture could become permanent. Manufacturers have taken steps to prevent burn-in, building in screensavers and other technologies. And you can virtually eliminate the danger by not leaving still images on the screen and reducing your contrast setting below 50 percent for the first 100 hours of usage.

To their credit, LCDs don't suffer from burn-in, nor do they have troubles at high altitudes where the air pressure differential causes plasmas to emit an irritating buzzing sound. So, if you live in mountainous regions, we don't recommend that you get a plasma, though some manufacturers are selling special sets they claim are immune to the problem.

5. Viewing HDTV
Most plasmas and LCDs can display a high-def signal. However, you'll need a model with a resolution of at least 1,280 x 720-pixel to enjoy the full effects of HD. Most 50-inch plasmas and nearly all 32-inch and larger LCDs offer this resolution. Several new 42-inch plasmas now do, but when you're watching HD feeds on a lower-resolution television of that size or smaller, you'll have to sit much closer to notice much of a difference between HD and what you're seeing. Take Pioneer's PDP-427XG. Even though the set provides only XGA resolution (1,024 x 768), HDTV looks really good on it.

6. Computers and video games
Most plasma and LCD TVs can double as computer monitors; some even offer a DVI or D-Sub port for optimal video quality. They'll also hook up to a game console without any problems. So which technology is better for these purposes? From a performance standpoint, it's hard to pick a winner, but because of plasma's burn-in risk, LCD is the safer choice for computer work and gaming.

Topics: hd, lcd, plasma, plasma vs lcd

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Comments (71)

  • daffwood commented on 21/11/2009 15:50 Report abuse

    This is my first ever post, but having been ripped of by Sony with my 46' bravia, i had to take them to consumer affairs to get my $200 cashback that was part of the sale and now the tv's died and is only 18 months old,I'm not happy Sony.

  • Bronte commented on 16/11/2009 18:58 Report abuse

    I went shopping today for a TV. I tried to look objectively at both but its hard when some are on HD feed and others aren't, then some are on brighter settings that make them look clearer from a distance. My conclusion for the Mrs Averages like me; Set a budget, look around and buy the one that you like the most.

  • KL commented on 15/11/2009 05:08 Report abuse

    Is LCD really that much safer than plasma because of less risk of screen burn?

    Not really, what you have fail to mention about LCD screens is that they are pretty vulnerable to "ghost lines" (permanent black vertical lines) or pixel bleeding.
    Essentially ruining the screen if you wanted to show off your high definition images knowing that the screen has black lines running down it however fent they may be.

  • mumma21 commented on 13/11/2009 19:05 Report abuse

    I work in a Myer store in the electrical section. Confused: yes there a distace:size ratio. for a large plasma you need to be sitting further back from the set, but for a large LCD you need to be sitting closer. LCD's are blurry further away, plasmas are blurry close-up

  • bugger commented on 02/11/2009 22:24 Report abuse

    holy Sh$t...I think I'll start reading again...

  • Ahjay commented on 25/10/2009 22:02 Report abuse

    responce to Alisamiyen I guess you must be very rich or you are spending someone elses money ...
    or just plain clueless ... I think you are the Latter... I'm glad you'r not a Brain Surgeon it would BrainSalad surgery and then you would be making clones of your self...stay happy in LAlA Land

  • jo commented on 03/10/2009 00:43 Report abuse

    if you have complaint with both LCD and plasma.I think the best is the ordinary tv

  • confused commented on 20/09/2009 12:31 Report abuse

    is there any connection between distance from the place of viewing to tv set.I heard that the bigger is the screen you need to find proper distance of viewing because if you are to close the picture is blur.

  • Alisamiyen commented on 19/09/2009 16:51 Report abuse

    Its a TV, I can watch teh games on Fox Sports, Play FIFA on the PS3, watch a DVD when wanted.. but in the End its a TV. Get over it guys. They both do the same job,

  • BOBEDY BOB commented on 19/09/2009 11:12 Report abuse

    SONY BRAVIA IS THE SHI**** TV TO EVER BUY IT MAKES A BUZZING NOISE, I HAVE TAKEN IT TO REPAIRS 4 TIMES AND IT STILL MAKES IT, IN THE END THEY TOLD ME ITS HOW THE BRAVIA SERIES IS, I WILL NEVER BUY ANYTHING SONY AGAIN.

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